Global InformationSaint Nicholas information
Saint Nicholas of Myra | |
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 Full-length icon by Jaroslav Čermák, showing Saint Nicholas with a halo, dressed in clerical garb, and holding a book of the scriptures in his left hand while making the hand gesture for the sign of the cross with his right | |
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| Born | Traditionally 15 March 270[1] Patara, Lycia et Pamphylia, Roman Empire |
| Died | Traditionally 6 December 343 (aged 73) Myra, Diocese of Asia, Roman Empire |
| Venerated in | All Christian denominations which venerate saints |
| Major shrine | Basilica di San Nicola, Bari, Italy |
| Feast |
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| Attributes | Vested as a bishop. In Eastern Christianity, wearing an omophorion and holding a Gospel Book. |
| Patronage |
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Saint Nicholas of Myra[a] (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343),[3][4][b] also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire.[7][8] Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker.[c] Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. His reputation evolved among the pious, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus ("Saint Nick") through Sinterklaas.
Little is known about the historical Saint Nicholas. The earliest accounts of his life were written centuries after his death and probably contain legendary elaborations. He is said to have been born in the Anatolian seaport of Patara, Lycia, in Asia Minor to wealthy Christian parents.[9] In one of the earliest attested and most famous incidents from his life, he is said to have rescued three girls from being forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house each night for three nights so their father could pay a dowry for each of them.[10] Other early stories tell of him calming a storm at sea, saving three innocent soldiers from wrongful execution, and chopping down a tree possessed by a demon. In his youth, he is said to have made a pilgrimage to Egypt and Syria Palaestina. Shortly after his return, he became Bishop of Myra. He was later cast into prison during the persecution of Diocletian, but was released after the accession of Constantine.
An early list makes him an attendee at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, but he is never mentioned in any writings by people who were at the council. Late, unsubstantiated legends claim that he was temporarily defrocked and imprisoned during the council for slapping the heretic Arius. Another famous late legend tells how he resurrected three children, who had been murdered and pickled in brine by a butcher planning to sell them as pork during a famine.
Fewer than 200 years after Nicholas's death, the St. Nicholas Church was built in Myra under the orders of Theodosius II over the site of the church where he had served as bishop, and his remains were moved to a sarcophagus in that church. In 1087, while the Greek Christian inhabitants of the region were subjugated by the newly arrived Muslim Seljuk Turks, and soon after the beginning of the East–West schism, a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in the church without authorization and brought them to their hometown, where they are now enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola. The remaining bone fragments from the sarcophagus were later removed by Venetian sailors and taken to Venice during the First Crusade.
- ^ Book of Martyrs. Catholic Book Publishing. 1948.
- ^ "Serbia". Saint Nicholas Center. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ^ "Who is St. Nicholas?". St. Nicholas Center. Archived from the original on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ "St. Nicholas". Orthodox America. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ a b Seal 2005, p. 2.
- ^ Seal 2005, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Lloyd, John; Mitchinson, John (December 2008). The book of general ignorance (Noticeably stouter ed.). Faber and Faber. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-571-24692-2.
- ^ Cunningham, Lawrence (2005). A brief history of saints. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4051-1402-8.
The fourth-century Saint Nikolaos of Myra, Greek Anatolia (in present-day Turkey) spread to Europe through the port city of Bari in southern Italy... Devotion to the saint in the Low countries became blended with Nordic folktales, transforming this early Greek Orthodox Bishop into that Christmas icon, Santa Claus.
- ^ Collins, Ace (2009). Stories Behind Men of Faith. Zondervan. p. 121. ISBN 9780310564560. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
Nicholas was born in the Greek city of Patara around 270 AD. The son of a businessman named Theophanes and his wife, Nonna, the child's earliest years were spent in Myra… As a port on the Mediterranean Sea, in the middle of the sea lanes that linked Egypt, Greece and Rome, Myra was a destination for traders, fishermen, and merchant sailors. Spawned by the spirit of both the city's Greek heritage and the ruling Roman government, cultural endeavours such as art, drama, and music were mainstays of everyday life.
- ^ English, Adam C. (2012). The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus: The True Life and Trials of Nicholas of Myra. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press. pp. 57–63. ISBN 978-1-60258-636-9.
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